GENERAL ASSEMBLY HAS WARNING ABOUT LIMITS ON SCHOOL FUNDING

Busloads of demonstrators from across the state camped on the Capitol steps for two hours Wednesday afternoon, calling for more financial aid for Illinois' public schools.

The real action took place inside.

Even as Chicago residents clamored for state funds to close the troubled school system's $415 million budget gap, legislative leaders warned that if the help comes at all, it will fall far short of what the city schools say they need.

And taxpayers from other school districts were slapped with hard political reality: Gov. Jim Edgar swore long ago not to raise taxes, even for education, and the legislature has acquiesced.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago said schools across the state will be lucky to get even the $110 million in additional aid that Edgar has proposed, adding: "There may even be less."

Republican Senate President James "Pate" Philip of Wood Dale offered some hope of state assistance for Chicago's schools, but only if Madigan agrees to compromise on a GOP plan to extend collar county-style property tax caps to suburban Cook County and let voters elsewhere vote on the idea.

Still, there was some progress to report: Madigan held a five-hour, closed-door meeting with officials from the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Teachers Union, setting the framework for discussions to follow.

Even before the school supporters descended on the Statehouse, it was clear that Chicago's school crisis and school funding statewide will be among several issues on the bargaining table when lawmakers try to wrap up the spring legislative session.

It was also clear that any state assistance for Chicago will carry a price tag, to be paid by union employees and subject to political deals.

"It's one of those things that will be negotiated at the end of the session," Philip said after a House panel rejected his tax-cap proposal.

Edgar has proposed a $110 million increase in funding for elementary and secondary education in his fiscal 1994 budget, but that figure is based on his plan to take income-tax surcharge revenue that now goes to municipalities.

Lawmakers in both parties have balked at Edgar's surcharge plan, which is another of the items on the negotiating table.

The uncertainty surrounding the .25 percent surcharge, which is to expire June 30, was the basis for Madigan's warning to educators about what they can expect in next year's state budget.

"Governor Edgar has set the tone for Illinois government and that means, in my expectation, no more money than is currently proposed," said Madigan, who wants to keep the surcharge revenue going to cities.

Chicago and the state can agree on one thing: The bottom line is cash.

Robert Leininger, the state school superintendent, said he wished Chicago well but cautioned school and union officials to recognize reality.

"(School officials) are still looking for that magic bailout," Leininger said. "There's not going to be any bailout. And it's not going to serve any purpose, especially to the kids, if they strike.

"There's going to have to be some give and take," he said.

Chicago's quest for more money was damaged by Tuesday's revelation that the budget shortfall is $32 million higher than previously reported.

"It doesn't look good when you say it's really $400 million and a week later, two weeks later, they come up no, it's $415 million," Mayor Richard Daley said in Chicago. "It gets people frustrated."

Philip responded similarly: "Mayor Daley said it was 300-something. Then today I read in the paper that it's $415 million. We don't even know what the figure is," he said.